


These Halls I've Walked a Thousand Times

by gigglyliam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Except its American high school bc that's all I know, High School AU, Liam is a pretty student, M/M, Niall is Niall, Oh and British terms sometimes just bc it fits, Pining, Romance, Tutor!Harry, Zayn is a cool friendly pal pal, badboy!Louis, fluffy fluff, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform, maybe some sex later idk, so eventual smut, ziam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 21:22:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3825541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gigglyliam/pseuds/gigglyliam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis has always been a loner, by his own choice. He never enjoyed going to school and has dreamed of dropping out, regardless of the constant pleas of his mother, for ages. Harry is a new student tutor at school, quite the opposite of Louis. When the pair gets together, they learn about a lot more than just algebra.</p><p>High School AU<br/>BadBoy!Louis<br/>Tutor!Harry</p><p>(A Larry Stylinson fic with a hint of Ziam)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is really shitty, oops. But here's an AU in which Louis and Harry are complete opposites in high school but turn out to be the perfect fit for each other. (Title from This Time written by Darren Criss)

   Sometimes Louis liked to hold his breath, just to see how long he could hold out for. The majority of the time he lasted a few seconds shy of a minute, but in certain circumstances, he could just scrape past the two minute mark, his lungs screaming out in deprivation of air. It wasn’t as if Louis wanted to make himself faint, although there really wouldn’t be too much harm in that, the boy just loved to test the waters-to push limits.

 

    Of course, naturally, this carried over into his school life as well. Louis Tomlinson held a certain... persona. Ask any bloke in school and he could probably rattle off a list of descriptions or memorable stories involving the boy, some nonetheless fabricated, but others interestingly true. Perhaps that was just the way Louis liked to live, in a world where everyone knew his name.

 

   As his grandmum would always say, Louis propped in her lap as they lay on her old green cushioned couch, “You want to be remembered. Not everyone may love you, but give them a reason to never forget you existed. You’re here for a reason; search for it, find it, and exploit it”. Louis wasn’t all too certain what his reason was just yet, but hell, he had a lifetime to figure it out.

 

   And such was his attitude towards everything in life: to just go with the flow and have a bit of fun as he went.

 

* * *

 

   It was the start of senior year, and not surprisingly, Louis Tomlinson could not be half-assed to get out of bed. Why should he? There was absolutely nothing to look forward to: he already knew all of the teachers (some more than others due to various bouts of detention), he wasn’t too fond of practically anyone in his grade (they were all Neanderthals, honestly, he was surprised Nick Taylor could even tie his own shoes), and he could probably think of a million other places he’d rather spend seven hours than in a run down hellhole.

 

   School made no sense anyway. It’s not like there would ever come a time when a gun would be held to his head and he’d have to answer “What’s the inverse of the cubed root of x plus 4 minus 7?” Because realistically, that’s just fucking stupid. Louis knew all he needed to know, and he had his mind set on just skipping this year. He was sure he would have no trouble convincing himself to carry through with the plan…there was just the matter of his mum. Jay had always made a point to be there for Louis as a supporting figure, especially since Louis’ dad had left them both when he was just a few weeks old, but if there was one thing she would not tolerate it was a lack of education.

 

    No matter how many times Louis had fought her on it, or how many valid points he provided, Jay saw it as black and white: in order to get a job in the future, you needed a solid education. Bollocks, if you asked him. Regardless, that’s why her son didn’t find himself too surprised when two little girls started jumping on his bed at 7 in the bloody morning.

 

    Louis huffed and pulled the blankets over his head as the twin menaces’ giggles filled the air, “Lou!! Lou, it’s time to get up! Lou, mum said it’s time to wake up! You have school today, Lou! C’mon, C’mon, brush your teeth! You smell!” Okay, Louis wanted to projectile fire Daisy across the room just for being so rude this early in the morning, but he merely groaned and stuck his hand up in the air.

 

    “I’m waving a metaphorical white flag.. you can go tell mum that. And for the love of god, please get off of me, I’m pretty sure neither of you brushed your teeth either..” Louis yawned, sitting up as his younger sisters broke into another fit of giggles and ran down the hall, playfully shoving each other along the way.

 

   Oh what it must’ve felt like to be young and full of life, he mused, scratching his head as he dragged himself over to the dresser.

 

   To further emphasize how much he just sincerely did not give a fuck, Louis threw on the first things he pulled out of the drawer: an old wrinkly Rolling Stones tee, and a pair of black skinny jeans. He found that the shirt had always been too large for him, hanging down to about his knees, but he couldn’t care less. To be honest, he could pull it off, and at least this way he could wear the shirt for years without outgrowing it.

 

   He slipped on his Spiderman vans, sans socks of course, before he lazily ran some deodorant under his armpits. Morning routines were so boring, and Louis was already on the verge of falling back asleep, so he walked to the bathroom and splashed a bit of cold water in his face. Sighing, he looked into the mirror, blue eyes staring back at him as he ran a pinch of gel through his hair and started to brush his teeth.

 

   He could hear Lottie and Fizzy arguing over makeup in the next bathroom over and once again, thanked god for the blessing of his own bathroom. Rinsing out his mouth as the girls’ bitching only got louder, Louis shut off the light and jogged down the steps, grabbing a muffin from the counter. His mum was a midwife, which meant she was often out of the house for client appointments, today being no different, judging by the note left on the counter, scrawled upon in her rushed handwriting.

 

    Louis rolled his eyes slightly as he read the note and took a bite out of the muffin. Jay’s client was going into labor so she would probably end up staying at her house for a few hours, and might not be home by the time Louis got home from school, “but isn’t the gift of life so incredible??”. He internally groaned, having no intentions of ever, emphasis on the ever, knocking somebody up. Swiping a stray crumb off of the counter with his hand, Louis picked up his car keys and shouted out goodbyes to everyone before stepping outside into the harsh sunlight.

 

   Obviously it was morning, but did the sun really have to be that fucking bright? Cynical, as always, Louis stepped into the front seat of his small red car and buckled up, driving off to what was sure to be another shitty waste of a year.

 

* * *

 

   Louis’ high school had three parking lots, if you would even venture to call them lots, considering their small size; the student lot, the Jock Lot, and the teachers’ lot. The Jock Lot was aptly named, as it was the lot closest to the sports fields, and Louis often found himself parking there for the mere enjoyment of the bitchiness that would radiate off of some of the athlete’s faces. Louis, of course, was not an athlete, but that didn’t mean he had no ability whatsoever. In fact, he had played a bit of football growing up and was rather keen to it. But as he grew older, and as was the case with most things, he quickly lost interest in it.

 

   The whole idea of a _team_ sport was a joke anyway; there was always that star player who got all of the recognition while a few sad sods were left sitting on the bench at every match, fake smiles painted onto their faces. As such, Louis found it best just to stick to himself and do his own thing. Parking in the Jock Lot that morning, Louis played a game that was a favorite of his, “Let’s see how many songs I can listen to before I open the fucking car door”.

 

   Honestly, if they gave out medals for this event, he would win the gold medal, and perhaps even the silver and bronze as well. Louis could practically hear the crowd cheering for him, his mix cd blasting out its last track, Love Interruption by Jack White. Leaning back, Louis closed his eyes and drummed his fingers against the wheel to the beat of the song. _I want love to walk right up and bite me, grab a hold of me and fight me, leave me dying on the ground._ Of course, it all seemed a bit morbid, but it was catchy as fuck and Louis couldn’t help but to sing along.

 

   Before the song ended he heard a knock on the window to his left and groaned internally, turning the music down. “What?” he muttered, rolling the window down just enough so that the intruder could hear him.

 

   There were a few fleeting seconds that passed before the person answered. “Okay… could you maybe roll down your window more? Or open your door? Your windows are tinted for god knows what reason and I don’t know how I’m supposed to talk to you if we can’t see each other..,” the deep voice just sort of melted off in the middle of a thought as Louis rolled his eyes and yanked his keys out of the ignition, opening the door and stepping out.

 

   To his surprise, it wasn’t some _jock_ coming over to give a lecture about the sanctity of the _Jock Lot_ and how important it is to honor the tradition of the _Jock Lot_ and how you have to earn a parking spot by earning the title of a _Jock_ … in the _Jock Lot_. Rather, Louis was met with a tall gangly teenager with unruly curly brown hair and deep green eyes.

 

   Glancing up at him the other boy’s mouth turned into a wide smile, all straight teeth and dimples. “Thank you… I didn’t mean to interrupt your little rock session in there, I mean when I think of school I think of “stick a knife inside me and twist it all around” too.” He laughed, his eyes crinkling up and his head leaning forward, perhaps in shyness as a few stray curls covered his eyes. Raising an eyebrow and watching the strange boy that Louis had never seen before in a school where everybody knew everybody, Louis couldn’t help but to feel a bit amused, a small twinge in his chest at someone who felt so easy to have a conversation with.

 

   Realizing that Louis had yet to respond, the friendly stranger cleared his throat, a small blush rising onto his cheeks, which honestly fit him well.

 

   “Right… well… I’m Harry Styles.. I’m new here and for the life of me, I have no fucking idea where I’m to go? And luckily I found you, because ‘yanno, you’re the only one in the parking lot.. So really, honestly, I just came over here to ask if you could give me directions. I’m already late, and as I said, I’m sorry for interrupting your music, but if you could help me, I’d really appreciate it..” he rambled on.

 

   Louis nodded slightly, finding it a bit difficult to follow this guy, Harry’s words, as each one was drug out with no sense of urgency. “Right.. well I guess I could show you around, although I’ve no idea why you want to go into the hellhole..” Harry only smiled brightly, pushing his hands into his pockets as Louis lead him into the building, unaware of how this year would end for the two virtual strangers.

 


	2. Chapter 2

   There were four locker sections within the school, the two lowerclassmen, being the freshmen and sophomores, on the bottom floor, and the upperclassmen, the juniors and seniors, on the top. It was supposed to be a privilege, really, to have your locker on the top floor of the school.

 

   Taken literally, it meant you were above everyone else. But Louis only saw it as an inconvenience. All of his classes were on the bottom floor so he had to travel out of his way to make it to his locker.

 

    So, today, after having learned that Harry was only a freshman, which, Louis was shocked to figure out given the height difference, he opted to point out the new kid’s locker in exchange for being able to keep his bag and scarce textbooks in there as well. Harry was more than happy to oblige, his long fingers fumbling with the lock, “Yeah! Louis, I’ve always wanted a locker buddy! Oh that’s just so cool, and you’re an upperclassman so maybe I’ll gain some cred, yeah?” He laughed softly, quickly growing quiet as his brow furrowed in concentration.

 

    “I swear… I’m turning this fucking thing right… This has to be a joke. They probably gave me the wrong combination, just to screw with me… 16…20…ARGH god dammit… okay, okay… 16…shit..” Louis could barely hide the small smile on his face as he watched Harry struggle. Getting your combination to work on the first day was always a test of your strength and will and Harry seemed to be failing big time.

 

   Louis could’ve stood there for hours, watching the way Harry’s tongue seemed to naturally guide across his lips every time he would start his attempts back up. Being the typical shit he was, the older boy let his new locker partner struggle for a bit before finally stepping in as it seemed Harry would have a literal conniption.

 

   “Mate.. if I may..?” Louis gestured to the lock as Harry shrugged and rubbed his face exasperatedly. It was pretty cute to watch, someone getting so worked up over something as small as a combination. If something this simple could get him so frustrated, Louis wondered how Harry would survive the mess that was this school. Chuckling, Louis walked up and looked at the assigned numbers, turning it slowly until a small click was heard and the locker obediently opened.

 

   “What the fuck..” Harry muttered, eyes wide as he stared down at the smaller boy in wonder. “I swear, Louis, but I did that.. you saw me, didn’t you? I turned it and went to the right numbers and I-..” “You have to go around twice before you make it to the second number... Jesus, Harry, how are you ever going to survive in this god forsaken place?” Louis teased and interrupted, putting his own bookbag in first before moving aside so Harry could do the same. Harry merely stuck out his tongue and pulled out all his things for class before putting his bag in and shutting the locker door carefully.

 

   “Alright, well thanks for your help.. I’ve got to get going to…” The taller boy’s voice trailed off as he pulled a piece of lined notebook paper out from a folder, “To Honors Trig.. with Mr.Harrison. Show me the way?” He asked hopefully, just wanting to spend more time with this strange older boy. “Trig?! Are you fucking kidding me, Styles? YOU’RE in trigonometry..? As a freshman..? What the literal fuck… that’s on my grade level _if_ you actually try…” Louis spat, crossing his arms across his chest, the big Rolling Stones tee forming small gatherings.

 

    It’s not like he would ever feign being good in his classes, especially not in math, but he didn’t like the fact that this new kid was already one-upping him. It felt like a test of his manhood, really. Who the hell did this kid think he was? Harry only stared back, in all seriousness; face light and cheery as he replied simply, “What..? I like learning..”

* * *

 

           

   It was almost lunchtime as Louis sat in the back of his Spanish class, pondering how the fuck he could even be interested in someone who gave two shits about school, someone who _liked_ to learn. Surely, Harry had to be a psychopath because no one could possibly get pleasure out of something so hideous. Louis would rather jump into a vat of lemon juice, his body covered in paper cuts, than to sit through any of these stupid classes with any of these stupid teachers in this stupid school.

 

   Harry, on the contrary, would probably find Louis attempting said situation to be an interesting science experiment, eager to document the various variables and whatever fucking else happened in science experiments. Just the thought of it was enough to make Louis’ eyes narrow, fingers absentmindedly shaving off chunks of his pencil’s eraser with his fingernails.

 

   “Mr. Tomlinson?”

 

   He quickly looked up at his teacher who looked pretty much as done with the day as he felt. Honestly, mad props to teachers, there was no way Louis would be able to deal with a bunch of shits like himself for a whole course, law enforcement would probably have to be phoned a few times.

 

    As his teacher started again, Louis focused his eyes down at his desk; students avoiding eye contact is the universal sign that they don’t want to be called on. Of course, some asshole teachers completely disregard that and call on whoever they want to torture the most.

 

    Mrs. Stoner was one of those teachers. “I said… Como te llamas?” Mrs. Stoner asked, Louis furrowing his brow as he glanced down at his usually empty notebook, wondering exactly when he had scribbled down Harry’s name.

 

    “Uh… uh no… I don’t like llamas…” he muttered, at which the class erupted into a fit of laughter and Louis promptly flipped all of his classmates off.

 

* * *

 

     

   Ten minutes later and Louis found himself holding his first detention slip of the year and walking down to the now all too familiar classroom. There had been only a rare few weeks where he hadn’t made the arduous journey down here at least once.

 

   He could tell you how many blocks on the floor there were from practically any classroom to here. It was called the “Time Out Room” of all places, for fucks sake. This _was_ a high school, right? It really wasn’t even much of a punishment, the teacher that was supposed to administer the room, Mr. Nelson, knew almost every “delinquent’ by name, and often left to have a smoke out behind the school.

 

    Opening the door, Louis was thrilled to see a skinny boy with black hair pulled back in a small bun already sitting in a desk near the front row. “Malik!!” Louis shouted, “How the fuck did you already end up in this shitty place?” Louis had met Zayn on the first day of freshman year, when they both decided during the archery unit in gym, that it would be more exciting to shoot the people running track instead of the targets. Of course, they never actually hit anyone; they didn’t care enough to aim correctly because… it was fucking archery.

 

   His friend turned around, a grin on his face, “Oi, fuck off, Tommo… tried to set fire in the chemistry lab again by mixing the chemicals.” Louis shook his head in disbelief and sat on top of the desk next to his friend.

 

   The sad thing was that this wasn’t a new occurrence. Zayn had probably tried to set that damn room on fire 15 times now, you’d think he’d have grown tired of it. “Zayn, are you kidding me? For god’s sake, bro, if you want to impress that Payne bloke, you don’t have to do it by being an arsonist!” He laughed, earning himself a punch from Zayn that almost knocked him backwards off the desk. Friendly banter was all.

 

    “Shut up.. he’s the teacher’s assistant and it gets his attention, alright? Just because you’re a fucking loser at love doesn’t mean we all have to be as cynical as you are. You still planning on living out your life as a loner?” The boy asked, pulling a joint and a lighter out of his jacket pocket, lighting it and taking a small hit before offering it to Louis. Louis would have accepted it on any other day but today he just couldn’t, merely shrugging it away.

 

   “Oh shit… what’s up, Lou? Obviously something’s on your mind.. go on and spill, you asshat..” Groaning, Louis thought of all the different ways this conversation could end up. Honestly, he didn’t really know what was even going on in his head at the moment and he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to open that door, untangle all the jumbled up thoughts like wires that were starting to spark.

 

   His mind kept flashing back to Harry’s name scribbled on paper in Louis’ messy handwriting. Surely, that was just an accident. Maybe meeting Harry is general was just an accident, a sign that bad things would happen if he went back to school. Fuck that, that sounded too much like the plot of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Life just threw people curves, and maybe Harry was one of them. Louis knew Zayn wouldn’t judge, he was probably the least judgmental person he knew, but telling him would mean letting his personal guard down, and that was just something Louis didn’t really do.

 

   Then it hit.

 

    “Oh my god, you’re in _love_!” Zayn said softly, eyes widening. “Holy shit, you’re IN _love_!! Fuck, miracles do happen…Lightning is probably going to strike!” He cackled, earning a shove from Louis which only warranted more laughing.

 

    “Would you shut up?? God, I’m not in love. Maybe this is why I don’t tell you things, you dick..” He murmured, although his voice wasn’t venomous at all, just sort of defeated. He was embarrassed. Of course he knew he wasn’t in love with Harry, but maybe he was infatuated? Would that be the correct term considering that Louis couldn’t seem to go five minutes without thinking about him? Harry was just nice to look at and have a conversation with. Was that such a bad thing?

 

   Eyes softening, Zayn gently patted his friend’s back. “Alright, Alright.. well in all honesty, Tommo, this is a big deal for you.. I feel like a proud mum. You going out there and meeting new people.. So, what’s the lucky mate’s name?” He asked, listening to the response. “Louis and Harry… awww, a modern day Brangelina!” he managed to get out before Louis had him tackled to the floor.

 

* * *

 

 

     One of the perks of being an upperclassman was that come lunchtime, you could go off campus and grab a bite at one of the nearby fast food restaurants. Louis often opted for Domino’s, calling out his order in his last class and then swinging by to pick it up. Cinnamon twists were always a safe bet.

 

   But today he had forgotten; today his mind was a huge twisted mess full of riptides and tidal waves that even the most skilled sailor could not navigate. Sighing dejectedly, Louis sat down at one of the lunch tables near the front doors of the school and rest his head on top of his arms, closing his eyes. All he knew was that his life would be a hell of a lot less complicated if he would have just stayed home this morning. A lot less… _Hairy_.

 

   Just as he was about to doze off for a minute, two large hands gripped his shoulders and a voice giggled, “I found you!!” And for fucks sake if Louis hadn’t been thinking about that voice for the past three hours. All the same, he smiled softly and sat up, patting the space next to him.

 

   “Hi, Harry, fancy meeting you here, huh?” Harry only smiled and wiped down the bench before sitting down and opening his brown paper lunch bag. “Mhm.. so today’s been good so far.. Here, have half of my sandwich, you must be starving..” he said casually, sliding over half of his crustless sandwich; peanut butter and jelly. Of course. If Louis had to place his bet on a sandwich it would probably be that classic PB&J. Harry was just that wholesome.

 

   Without missing a beat, Harry continued, “So I was thinking maybe we could hang out after school? You could come over to my place, meet my mum..” Louis nearly choked on his bite of the sandwich, beating on his chest a few times as if he were King Kong.

 

_Meet his mother_?! He couldn’t be serious! But nonetheless, Harry carried on, oblivious, “And we can like.. make cupcakes or watch a movie or like-…”

Louis cut him off right there, “Meet your mum?? Harry! For fuck’s sakes, we’ve only just met this morning, what is wrong with you?” He spat out, a bundle of nerves.

 

   Yeah, Louis definitely should have stayed home; because he was pretty sure he just slipped into the Chamber and met the basilisk, suddenly afraid to make eye contact as he was sure he was already coming close to being petrified.

 

   Smiling, the boy with green eyes only seemed amused, not taken aback at all. “I’m kidding, Louis.. I’m not daft. Actually I know there’s a small band playing in town tonight.. called The Rogue. I mean, my uncle is the stage manager so I was going to go anyway.. Would you want to come with?” He asked, voice as light and cheerful as ever. Louis only stared back, gape-eyed like a fish.

 

   Yeah. Totally petrified.

 

   “Well I.. like… uh, music.. okay..” Wow, leave it to those 11 years of English lessons that he had taken to fail him now. But if Harry wanted to poke fun at the poor soul, he didn’t show it, opening up a banana from the bottom. “Alright, mate, sounds awesome.. I’ve a tandem bike so just write down your address and I can meet you at your place?” He asked.

 

   Louis waited for the confession that this too was a joke, but this time it didn’t come. “A bike..? Harry, you want to ride a bloody bike to a concert..?” he asked, furrowing his brows in confusion.

 

   “Well yeah, sure. I haven’t a license.” Harry replied simply, as if it made all the sense in the world. Louis thought back to the lyrics in that song from this morning, “ _I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt, or interrupt me_ ”, he sure as hell didn’t love Harry, and there was no way he was going to let Harry change him at all. Louis was a lone shark and that’s just how he liked it.

 

            

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave any comments or kudos if you have any feedback or think I should continue! (:


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow I took forever to write this lol I'm sorry I'm lazy af and senior year is hitting me hard. Please let me know what you think and any comments or kudos would be greatly appreciated!!!

  When Louis came home, his mum was still at her mid-wife shindig, and his sisters were at their friends’ houses, meaning he was left to his own devices. This happened more often than not, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but today Louis had sort of been hoping someone would be there to talk to. He had so many things running through his head, so many questions, so many ways his mum’s advice could help. Yet here he was, laying on the couch as he opened up his laptop and typed in that familiar url.

  Louis wouldn’t say that he was horny all of the time, but he was a teenage boy.. so he was horny all the time. And with a new mental image to think about, he was hard within minutes. It was so peculiar, that he even found Harry cute, being that he was a freshman or “fresh-meat” as Louis often affectionately referred to them. He had always scoffed and stuck up his nose at the flings so many 9th and 12th graders had with each other, knowing all too well that the seniors were just taking advantage of someone so much smaller than them. Louis’ fling had been some bloke named Andrew who probably wouldn’t even be able to pick out the smaller boy from a lineup today if he had a gun held to his head.

  The whole relationship had only lasted a week or two but Louis was left feeling like the village idiot, like an imaginary dunce cap was placed on his head for everyone and their mother to see. He vowed that he would never get swept up into some sort of fairly tale romance because Louis knew, that come midnight, his Prince Charming would be revealed for who he truly was: a dickhead.

  Louis was a senior now, and he knew that cute little stories like Peter Pan and Cinderella were just that- fictitious little stories. So, long story short, he really really never fancied anyone, especially not someone more than a year from his own age.

  Evidently the scientists got it wrong, and the world wasn’t supposed to end on January 1st of Y2K or May 21st of 2011, but it was most certainly ending today, all because Louis couldn’t get that stupid mop headed boy out of his mind.

  The porn website definitely helped, providing hundreds upon hundreds of videos for the boy’s entertainment, each star looking more like the boy he had just met than the last. It was sinful really, how much the innocent freshman looked like a porn star.

  God help Louis and his impure thoughts.

  He lazily pushed his hand underneath his waistband and started toying with himself, running his finger against his tip before pushing the foreskin down and really going to town.

  Louis had heard a while ago that the tips of cocks tended to be the same color as people’s lips. If that were the case, Louis would probably drop dead if he ever got to catch the younger boy with his pants around his ankles, his mouth such a beautiful shade of red.

  Grunting, the boy rubbed himself off faster now, not even really processing the videos anymore as his mind just kept running through scenarios with Harry. Before he knew it, there was the familiar pull in Louis’ stomach and he came in small spurts onto his already distressed band tee.

  He felt bad, really; Harry was so innocent and definitely didn’t deserve some older freak getting his rocks off at the thought of him. How the hell was Louis even supposed to hang out with him tonight pretending that he hadn’t just milked his cow over him a few hours before?

  Groaning angrily in self hatred and teenage angst, Louis finally pushed himself up and made the arduous walk to his room.

                                                                                                  

* * *

 

  After tossing his now dirty shirt into the hamper, the boy stripped off the rest of his clothes and jumped into the shower in an attempt to wash the rest of the filth off of his body. Water, unfortunately, did nothing to cleanse his dirty conscious and impure thoughts, but it did help to get rid of some of his righteous B.O., so it wasn’t a total loss.

  Louis wasn’t even sure when the other boy was going to show up on his majestic tandem bike of enchantment, and he honestly had no idea at all what to expect from the night. For fuck’s safe, he didn’t even know if The Rogue was going to be the type of music he was interested in at all.

  It all seemed more and more by the minute to be a terrible decision on his part to agree to meeting up with Harry, but he slipped on a black tank top and some clean skinnies nonetheless.

  When his sisters returned home and his mother finally showed up, recounting her completely riveting story of having to cut off the umbilical cord herself, Louis muttered some excuse about meeting up with a tutor.

  “Louis William Tomlinson!” His mother, Johannah grinned, clapping her hands in excitement. “Oh, love! Oh, my big boy.. I knew a day was going to come where you would put as much effort into your coursework as you do sulking around all of the time.. Oh, but good luck to your tutor.. Lord knows the poor soul is going to need it!” She laughed that motherly laugh as Louis merely rolled his eyes and said his goodbyes, walking out of the front door.

  Honestly, if he didn’t care about his classes before, what the hell would make him pick up a tutor out of the blue for his senior year? It was pretty much like his mother was waiting to see a chicken lying a golden egg, and Louis was not about to pull some fantastical magical thing from out of his arse.

  He sat down on his front porch step and toyed with his phone for a bit, trying to look up any social media accounts that Harry might have had, trying to pass the time before his personal pumpkin carriage arrived. He didn’t find much, but he came across an Instagram account with the name “Stylestagram”, a few selfies and random shots from the young boy littering his profile page. Again, how the hell was he intrigued by someone who named their account “Stylestagram”??

  Harry pulled up a few minutes later on a red tandem bicycle, and Louis finally came to the conclusion that the boy had been wholeheartedly serious. Honking his bike horn, Harry snorted softly and pushed some curls out of his face, waving over to the boy on the steps.

  “I’m here to pick up a Louis Tomlinson? God, mate, don’t look so happy to see me..”

  Louis smiled softly and shook his head, carefully swinging his foot up over the seat and getting situated on his half of the bike. Harry had evidently changed from this morning as well, wearing a white scoop neck t-shirt and some black jeans. It suited him well.

  “’M happy to see you, Harry, but I just don’t think my balls are going to be too thankful for the pain you’re about to cause them,” Louis teased, pushing some fringe out of his face. Harry laughed and spat out some joke about Louis being small enough that he could probably fit in the front basket the entire way there anyway. Who was this bastard? He was so much younger but evidently he had a sort of backbone, not afraid to joke around with the older boy. Louis admired that.

  They had made it the few blocks to the small club with only a few weird glances and a handful of angry mumbles from Louis. He only prayed that this night would make up for the entire ride because it was definitely going to ruin his street cred. Harry beamed happily after he locked the bike into a rack and grabbed Louis’ hand, pulling him in behind him. Louis had a sudden thought that he could quite literally be walking into the gates of hell.

 

* * *

 

 

  The club had a surprisingly friendly atmosphere, with the lights a bit dimmed and the stage lights a purple color. There was a wide floor for dancing, and the bar had a wide variety of drinks and snacks already lined up. There weren’t too many people there, but the crowd seemed friendly and ready for some sort of music to dance to. Louis could definitely get used to this.

Grabbing a cold can of beer, Louis noticed Harry opted for a bottle of water, realizing that the boy probably wasn’t even old enough yet to legally drink. How ridiculous was that? The same thoughts began to run through his mind about how unfair it was of him to be dating someone so much younger, but they faded away as Harry pulled him into a friendly conversation.

  “By the way.. thank you for being so welcoming to me today. I know it’s probably not cool for you to be seen with the freshman, you being a senior and all, but I really appreciate it.. It’s really cool to know that there’s someone who has my back and will ride embarrassing bikes with me.. Okay, well not really ride it. Half the time you just sat there complaining while I had to move the pedals enough to carry your lazy ass along with mine.”

  The taller boy smirked, those bloody dimples popping out again as he took a sip on his water and Louis laughed naturally, smiling back at him. “Yeah.. no, I guess it’s not a big deal. Although I’m a bit nervous to hear the type of music you’re into. I’m definitely getting a High School Musical vibe and if someone breaks into “We’re All in This Together”, I will literally shit myself.”

  Harry giggled to himself, eyes lighting up as he took a deep breath to start singing the chorus of that painfully poppy musical number, but the band walked out onto the stage and Louis was saved. The band consisted of four blokes, probably around Louis’ age, each with an instrument in their hands. They weren’t complete stunners, but they also didn’t look half-bad. Louis quickly became fond of the lead singer/guitar player, with obviously bleached blonde hair and clear blue eyes. He was clearly Irish, and his accent carried through practically every word he sang. The boy had an infectious laugh and put on a hell of a show, his band playing a few original songs as well as covers of “Teenage Dirtbag” and “American Idiot”. As much as Louis would love to deny it, the concert in its entirety was actually extremely entertaining and he was really glad that he let Harry take him here.

  When their set finally ended, Louis cupped his hands around his mouth and cheered loudly, laughing as the Irish boy decided to dive into the stage. The idea turned out to be a horrible one as almost everyone in the crowd was drunk at this point. The singer was undeterred, lying on the ground and crying from his excessive laughter instead of crying from pain. Louis liked this guy; he seemed like he would be a blast. He was about to turn to Harry to ask for the bloke’s name, but Harry had already taken off, running to the fallen boy.

  “Shit..” Louis charged after him, almost certain that the singer wouldn’t like some rogue fan coming over to annoy him when he was already injured. To his surprise, the Irish guy laughed and grinned, waving. “Harry!! Oi, mate, it’s good to see ya.. I’ve gotta stop doin’ that, huh? Only a matter of times before I break my bloody leg again.” Harry laughed and helped the singer up, patting his back. “We all want to be rockstars, Nialler.. Louis, this is Mr. Niall James Horan.. He’s a long time friend of mine and like I said.. my uncle is their stage manager so.. yeah. Niall, this is Louis! I met him at school today.”

  Louis just rose an eyebrow and stared at the two of them, nodding slightly. He would have never expected Harry to be a rock band lead singer’s best friend, but he’d been wrong about many things before. “You did great, Niall. Really, you put on a great show, “ he ended up saying, not wanting to sound like some mute idiot.

  Niall only stared back at him, turning to face Harry. “Well you’re right. He is quite fit.” And Harry turned as red as his lips.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I suck at updating. Here's more of Harry and Louis at the club with a hint of Niall mixed in. Let me know what you think and I promise I'll try to write more soon!

  It was pretty fucking amusing how hard Harry tried to steer the conversation after that comment.

  “Ha! That’s Niall. He’s a riot, Louis. Thinks he would be a stand-up genius. Crazy, innit? He fancies himself my older brother, even though he’s only a few months apart from me. We used to go to Ireland together all of the time! Beautiful countryland. Beautiful cows..speaking of cows, you know something? Up until I was around 11, Niall had me convinced that white cows made white milk and brown cows made chocolate milk. I felt like an idiot looking for pink cows to make strawberry milk. We should stop by the store on the way home. Buy some strawberry milk.”

  As if he were attempting to salvage the situation, Harry sipped his water and leaned back to lean against the wall, losing his balance and falling flat on his ass instead. Raising one eyebrow, just trying to figure the strange, bow-legged creature out, Louis risked a glance to Niall.

  The bleached, unamused cow fibber just spun his finger in small circles beside his head, the universal sign for “cuckoo”. “His legs are uneven. Maybe that’s why he’s falling for you.” The singer made a quick, stealthy getaway, right as Harry started to sputter, both on his water and with his words.

  Louis didn’t really have any close friends, but he had Zayn, and he wondered what it would be like to bring a fresh breath of air like Niall into the circle. Maybe he’d find himself getting annoyed after a while with the positive energy, but then again, Harry had yet to really get under his skin… yet. Speaking of the boy, Mr. Stylestagram himself was still lying on the floor, looking like a puppy who had just pissed in his owner’s shoes.

  Shaking his head to send his small bit of free flowing fringe behind his eyes, Louis gestured with his fingers, taking a small sip of his beer. “Harry, up.. We can Work This Out and make the night Fabulous, but you gotta know that I Don’t Dance.” Harry’s puppy face turned into a kid in the candy store face real fucking quick, eyes as wide as saucers. And Louis couldn’t blame him; it’s not Everyday that a punk rock teenager with holey tanks rattles off High School Musical 2 song titles in a casual conversation.

  “Louis, you did not… I definitely had you pegged as some morbid happiness sucker.. And here you are.. freely referencing one of the happiest teen romance musicals of all time..I think miracles do happen.. I’ve gotta call up God and thank him. You know he has a twitter? It’s @God. Good to see that he’s keeping up with the times.” The taller boy finally pushed himself up from the ground, small wet spots on his shirt from his water spillage.

  Louis was tempted to suck him dry. His shirt… Dry his shirt. Dry-clean it for him. Throw several nice smelling fabric sheets in there for good measure.

 

* * *

 

  He was brought out of his faux laundry fantasy by Harry grabbing his hand and yanking him towards the middle of the dancefloor. What part of the iconic dance anthem “I Don’t Dance” was Harry not understanding?? “Alright, now you’ve gotta tell me.. how does someone like YOU know the tracklist to High School Musical 2? I sort of picture you sulking in your bed all day listening to My Chemical Romance or something like that..”

  Louis felt a smile tugging at his lips, but he kept it under control, taking his time to sip his beer, beginning to empty the can. “I’ve got younger sisters.. loads. It was inevitable. I must have watched Troy and Gabriella break up and make up and Walk Away around 78 times.

  Harry didn’t have to know about how Louis auditioned for High School Musical when their school put on the play in his freshman year.. He was cast as the understudy for Troy and became too involved with Andrew, never showing up to rehearsals, and that was the extent of his high school acting career. May it rest in peace.

  Harry beamed and rest his hands on his hips, rocking back and forth slightly. “This is cool.. See, I’m learning things about you. I thought you’d be the type of person to trash things like High School Musical, but you’re a good older brother apparently.. You sit and watch it over and over again for the sake of your little sisters.. You’re the type of guy who hates tandem bikes but will ride them with some guy you just met because you’re secretly nice under that stubbly, axe smelling exterior.. You appreciate music. Even if you don’t know the songs… You were dancing along to Niall, completely honed in on it. I’m not certain, but I think I even saw you wiggle your arse once, you dancer you..”

  Louis let out a quiet giggle and quickly cleared his throat, shrugging his shoulders. “Wow, Styles, it’s like you’re Raven fucking Baxter.. you can see everything, huh? And I’ll have you know, I only shook my ass for Green Day. Billie Joe demands it.”

  A smile lingered on his face, just intrigued. It was so weird to him, but so strangely amazing at the same time, how much interest Harry was obviously paying to tiny details about Louis’ life. The blue-eyed boy had had no idea at all that his club partner had been watching him throughout the entire set. To be honest, it seemed like something that only tended to happen in romance movies. You know, the Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You type shit.

  Maybe Harry was just an observer, a people watcher. Loads of times, when Louis just didn’t feel like walking into school, he’d sit in his beat up car and just watch all of the other kids go about their lives while he droned out the sound with some classic Journey. He liked to assign names or personalities to people; it was fun to give the strangers some back stories.

  There was Sara, who brought a cup of Starbucks with her every single day religiously, probably needing the caffeine to keep up with her 6 AP classes. Not long after Sara, Emma would walk in holding hands with Tristan, although Emma didn’t know that Tristan was secretly fooling around with Delilah behind her back. Poor Emma, she even had to babysit her younger brothers 5 days out of the week. And who could forget about Kristen? Kristen was a girl with blue hair who just laid out by the tree, chilling and smoking weed everyday. Louis liked to think it was because she secretly a spy, pretending to mask herself as a teenager.

  It was fun to give all of the people stories, it made life a little less lonely, and it allowed him to choose what people did and said. If Louis was actually able to decide people’s actions, he knew there would be a lot less hurt and heartache in the world. If he got to pick what his own heart and mind did, well then maybe he wouldn’t be so infatuated with the tall, lean boy standing in front of him at the moment.

  Evidently, he’d zoned out in his own thoughts, finally snapping back into reality as Harry rambled on about what kind of superpowers he’d like to have. Louis would like to shape shift. He’d like to be a little fly on the wall, following this strange creature around all day. Harry Styles was truly something. “Yeah.. superpowers are cool..” Louis mumbled nonchalantly, as if he had been fully listening the entire blessed time. He was finished his beer now and crushed the can, eyeing the bar.

  Harry, as in tune as he was to Louis, just smiled and pointed to the bar, nodding. “Go ahead and get yourself another. Me and my few droplets of water that are left will be here waiting.” He bit down on his lip as if he was trying not to laugh at his own words, two big front teeth lightly sinking into his plump bottom lip. His green eyes were light and happy, little creases by them. His hair was a bit unruly, bits of it sticking up, with a few faithful, obedient curls sticking right behind his ear as he pushed them there.

  Giving a thumbs up, Louis quickly made his way through the weakening crowd, heart beating a bit faster than it probably should have just from walking. He sat down on the stool as he ordered a shot and another beer, wondering why he was still here. Why was he doing this? Sure, it was fun to be out with this freshman, but Louis knew that it would never really end up anywhere, and it would kill him to hurt Harry as badly as his 15 year old self had been hurt.

 

* * *

 

  Louis was a lone-wolf. He wasn’t like Zayn; he didn’t pick one person to fancy for years and years. He preferred to be alone. He didn’t like to go out to parties, would rather sit at home and play some Pandora, having his thoughts consume him. He wasn’t the type to be tied down, right? That’s what he’d believed for years now.

  So why was it so damn hard to keep his mind off of the menace of a teenager that was left waiting for him like a loyal boyfriend out on the dancefloor?

  Downing the shot, he winced for a bit and gained his liquid courage, sauntering back to Harry with his new beer, as if he hadn’t just contemplated his entire love life at a dingy old little mini bar.

  True to his word, Harry hadn’t even moved a single inch, feet planted firmly on the floor. Honestly, fuck him. Fuck him and his huge feet. “Long time no see, Tomlinson!” The now familiar deep voice greeted him as he arrived. “I was beginning to think you were making some kind of plan with the bartender to run away together and get married Maybe even vacation in Ibiza.” And there it was. That fucking dimple again.

  Louis laughed softly and shook his head, lifting up his beer. “Just went to refill, honest. Place is emptying out..” He observed quietly, looking around at the place. Louis didn’t know how much longer the two of them were going to be out on this little excursion, and he really didn’t want it to end too soon.

  “Mhm! Means the fun is just about to start. We get free reign over all of the music and snacks and lights and you’re going to love it.. Usually it’s just me and Niall, but we can make an exception for you tonight.” Harry wasn’t entirely sure if Louis would take him up on the offer, but there really was no way he’d be able to ride the tandem bike home all by himself, and what if Harry had decided it as their mode of transportation for that particular reason?

  Louis just smiled, tummy feeling warm as he gave his consent. “Hell yeah.. Sounds like fun. If I were to go home right now, Z would blather on and on about how dreamy Liam’s eyes are and hoe muscular his arms are and honestly, he’s the reason I keep a tiny barf bag under my pillow, just in case.”

  Harry gasped and rose an eyebrow, gently resting a hand on Louis’ chest, an innate reaction displaying his interest in continuing the story. But to Louis, it was more like the large hand was introducing himself to his pectorals, very warmly, and Louis hoped that the two body parts would become close friends, hanging out more often.

  “Liam Payne?? He’s been volunteering at the animal shelter with me! Oh, wait until I tell him that someone’s got a crush on him.. He’s a hopeless romantic. Z? Who’s Z.. Is he too cool to have more than one letter?”

  Louis’ eyes went wide and he quickly shook his head, realizing that he was digging his feet deep into a pile of shit. He pretty much blew a secret that his best friend had trusted him with, to a guy who wants to tell his best friend’s secret to the guy he’s secretly in love with. Well that’s swell.

  “No! No, no, no.. no that Liam. Liam Pence.. Liam Pence. Different guy. Z as in Zack. Zack and Liam. Lick if you will.” Louis scrunched up his nose a bit at the couple name, momentarily feeling bad for any Zack and Liam that were non-fictional and were actually a couple. Lick just wasn’t cute.

  Harry shrugged it off, “Aw, that’s cute.. I love couples. I love couple names.. Like Jelena.. Klaine.. You know if we were dating, we could even be Halo. How cute is that? Like little angels.” Thankfully, Harry didn’t notice Louis’ eyes bulging out of his head, his attention devoted to a very buzzed Irishman that was walking towards them.

  “MY FANS! Oi, it’s good to see ya.. Thanks for comin’ to the show.. No, I will not sign your nipples, once was enough Harold..” He smiled crookedly and slung an arm around the taller boy’s shoulder, leaning against him. “Did ya know this kid has four nipples?? Freak of nature.. Body of a greek statue though. Mr. Harry fucking Styles..”

  Harry’s cheeks twinged with a bit of pink and he chuckled rolling his eyes fondly, “Mr. Niall fucking Horan, Louis.. Gets drunk off his bum at every gig, ensuring that he blows every penny he just earned on alcohol.” “HEY!” Niall, countered, “If I’m gonna make it as a struggling musician, I’ve got to keep struggling, yeah? I know what I’m doin’. Just keeping my brand alive is all.”

  Louis just laughed and watched the two boys interact. It was like how Zayn and himself would play around. Like a sort of bromance. Niall and Harry seemed to blend really well, both of them jokesters. Honestly, it wouldn’t be so bad to bring that kind of positivity and light into his life, right?

  “It’s motherfuckin’ karaoke time.. Harry, Louis, I’ll let you two do the honors..” Niall smiled, stumbling away to a small little computer in the corner of the room. Harry grabbed his hand and pulled him up on the tiny stage, handing him a microphone that for all Louis could figure, conjured itself out of thin air. Harry just smirked at Louis, little fits of giggles escaping his mouth.

  “You’re going to love this song, Louis Tomlinson.. very symbolic. Defined our generation.” Louis furrowed his brows as Niall started the song and the first few notes starting echoing throughout the now empty area.

  Start of Something New. Harry fucking Styles had picked the opening song to bloody High School Musical. “Don’t Worry.. I’ll sing Gabriella’s parts,” Harry assured him, as Niall cackled in the background.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know how this little bit was? Should I do more, or was the stench of shit so bad that you had to exit? THANKS FOR READING IF YOU DID, I LOVE YOU AND YOU DESERVE LIKE CANDY


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